NOW WITH PICTURES!!
What does the future hold for Baltimore City? No one knows for sure. One way is to examine is to look at the past and present conditions, the other is to look at what's on the drawing board as far as new development. I will attempt to do both while at the same time throwing in my opinion. Sure, the Inner Harbor and its surrounding neighborhoods are nice, but they're aren't my focus. Check out old posts I have added pictures to them!

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Tuesday, August 28, 2012

For well over a decade, Baltimore has tried to reclaim the Westside
of its Downtown as the Retail and Shopping Mecca it was before the
flight to the suburbs. There has been some success in attracting
Residents here as evidenced in the population growth in the 2010 census
but Major Retailers have avoided the Westside of Downtown. That's not to
say Retailers have avoided Baltimore all together, quite the contrary
it's just been in other part of the City. I will attempt to explain why
Baltimore has evolved and what that means for the Westside of Downtown.

The flight to the suburbs and the threat of integration killed
Downtown's Westside no doubt about it. Lexington and Howard was the
intersection to envy if you were a Baltimore Department Store as this
was where their Flagship stores once stood. The original locations of
Hutzlers, Hoschild Kohn, Hechts, and Stewarts flanked this proud
intersection. Not far was Brager Gautmans, McCrorys, and many many more.
As Baltimore began losing population to the suburbs and these
Department Stores began opening branches in said suburbs, sales in their
Downtown Stores plummeted and they began scaling back services like
Personal Shoppers and Same Day Home Delivery. Also these "Grand Dame"
locations were made smaller until finally closing all together.

Downtown before the fight to the suburbs had loosely defined
boundaries; first there was the Westside which was the Retail and
Shopping District, there was the Central Business District which is
largely where it is today (Charles Center) and then there was the
Harbor. The Harbor served as an Industrial Port for Shipping,
Manufacturing of everything from textiles to cans and everything in
between.

In 1980 when Harbor Place opened the Inner Harbor was officially
redefined. The once Industrial Port became a Retail
and Recreationally oriented zone that began attracting the very
Retailers that the Westside had lost and was trying to lure back. With
the rebirth of the Inner Harbor Downtown began to expand itself
including Neighborhoods Federal Hill, Fells Point, and Canton. These
same Retailers began flocking to these Neighborhoods instead of the
Westside. The opening of Inner Harbor and the future opening of Harbor
Point will bring high end Retailers to these Neighborhoods as well.

Now where does this leave the Westside? After all, its identity as a
Baltimore's Retail and Shopping Destination has been taken from it by
the Inner Harbor and its Neighborhoods. It's not like the Westside
can swap identities with what the Harbor used to be; an Industrial Port
because we have entered a service oriented economy instead of a
manufacturing one. That still didn't answer the question of how to
redefine the Westside. City Planners haven't gotten it through their
heads that the Westside can't once again be a Shopping District and that
the boundaries of Downtown have been altered.

Despite not making much progress in the Retail department and there
being trash on the streets as well as unmaintained roads and
sidewalks, the westside of Downtown has gained population. This gain in
population can be attributed to Historic Retail Buildings being
converted into Apartments and Condos like the old Hechts and Stewarts
Buildings.

I foresee the Westside of Downtown being converted into more
of a Midtown District College Town like Bolton Hill, Mount Vernon, and
Charles Village with convenience Retail, restaurants and pubs such as reopening the White Coffee Pot (pictured above). This should be relatively easy because there are lots
of Colleges and Universities just a stone's throw away from Downtown's
Westside. A big player to indicate activity in the Westside will be
returning the entire Hutzler's Building to productive use. There are
also Row House style Retail buildings that are vacant and would make
great Residential conversions. Since they're quite narrow it might not
be a bad idea to convert two into one to make them wide like those in
the aforementioned communities.

Although successful Residential conversions are what have made the
Westside of Downtown gain population its most important show case will
not be such. The main attraction to the Westside will continue to be
Lexington Market. Lexington Market should be expanded to include
healthier vendors and more upscale foods as well.

There's a project that's been shelved next to Lexington Market that
I think should be brought back to light; The Residences at Lexington
Market. This mixed income housing development will consist of two high
rise Apartment Buildings, a Condo Building, and 23 Town Homes built atop
the parking garage pictured above.

In addition to being a world class Public Market and new upscale
Residences, Lexington Market must also be the area's number one Transit
Center. I've said it before and I'll say it again; the Red Line must go
through Downtown and not around it and Lexington Market is a crucial
stop for it because both existing lines meet there and to make the area a
transit hub, multiple lines be it rail or bus will have to stop there. I
think that the Red Line has the potential of making Lexington Market a
true gem.

In Downtown's Westside, despite the population gain, there appear
to be signs of disinvestment. The roads are in terrible shape as are the
sidewalks and lighting could be better. Charles St. in Mount Vernon
just completed a very attractive streetscape project that I think will
complement the Westside of Downtown very well. The project included
newly paved roads, new sidewalks, cross walks, additional street lights,
and new traffic lights (pictured below.)

Now that Downtown's Retail and Shopping District has moved to Inner
Harbor East and Harbor Point, we must now redefine the Westside of
Downtown in order to breathe more new life into it.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

In my travels and in my writings I make a very large effort not to
gloat or be arrogant. However, back in 2009 I wrote a post about the Neighborhoods of Greater Lauraville and how their demographics appear to
be changing and the response to that article was such that I had to
duck and cover and go into the Witness Protection Program. You would
have thought I was saying something bad about their Neighborhood.
Changing demographics are not a bad thing on my part it was just an
observation. Residents accused me of not knowing their Neighborhood and
how dare I say such bad things without actually walking the streets and
going inside businesses along Harford Road. Guess What? I have traveled
Harford Road on foot and I have gone inside and walked the aisles of the
Safeway and CVS just like commentators accused of not doing and that is
how I have come to the conclusion that Greater Lauraville was and still
is experiencing a change in demographics. My saving grace was to wait
for the results of the 2010 census to see what the truth held; turns out
I was right.

When I say Greater Lauraville has been undergoing changes I don't
just mean an influx of Blacks and a reduction of Whites. I'm hesistant
to say White Flight because I do know that Whites still move into the
area as well. Other ways Greater Lauraville is changin is that it's
emerging as a Restaurant District with new offerings, a vacant lot has
been turned into a thriving Farmer's Market the labor of cleaning up
that lot was a grassroots effort of Residents who volunteered their own
time. Harford Road has welcomed a Safeway and a beautiful new landscaped
median. Although the number of Whites has decreased many Neighborhoods in the area
have experienced net gains in population; something that an area of
Baltimore should be VERY proud of considering how many Residents the
City as a whole loses.

Now to put my money where my mouth is; below is a make shift chart
that shows the percentage of White population in 2000 vs. 2010 as well
as the Black population in 2000 vs. 2010 and whether that Neighborhood
has experienced an overall population loss or gain.

These numbers are the official numbers provided by the 2000 and
2010 census I am not in any skewing the numbers in my favor. If it turns
out that Greater Lauraville's demographics hadn't changed at all I
would have issued an apology for misinformation. I don't see anything
wrong with Neighborhoods showing growth in their Black population but
apparently there are some Residents in Greater Lauraville who do. I'd
like to congratulate Greater Lauraville on its improved Retail and
Restaurant Offerings as well as a cleaner greener Harford Road. I can
only hope that the angry commentators from 2009 have come around and have
learned to embrace diversity.